Who is more influential in the cross-talk world, Ma Sanli or Hou Baolin?

Who is more influential in the cross-talk world, Ma Sanli or Hou Baolin? From my personal point of view, the main reason is geographical factors. Influence, style and subject matter of cross talk performances, publicity needs, teacher-student relationship, and interpersonal relationships.

First, let’s talk about the influence of geographical factors. Mr. Ma's ancestral home is Lanzhou, Hui nationality, and a native of Beijing. He settled in Tianjin after 1949 and joined the Tianjin Folk Art Troupe; Mr. Hou is a native of Peking Banner and joined the Beijing China Radio and Rap Troupe after 1949. Although Beijing is now the domestic political, economic, cultural and commercial center, in 1949, Tianjin was considered the economic center of the north, with a much higher status than Peiping at that time. There has always been an unwritten rule in the folk art world, that is, one must perform in Tianjin and be recognized by the Tianjin audience to become popular. This reason is related to the composition of Tianjin folk art audiences. During the Republic of China, there were many old and young residents in Peiping who listened to folk arts. However, due to the water transportation at the wharf, those who loved to listen to folk arts in Tianjin were often the porters who worked hard at the wharf, commonly known as footmen. Guo Degang once described these people in his cross talk. The general meaning is that these porters work during the day and take a rest in the evening. They receive the completion payment, boil the pot of wine, and listen to music for fun. Compared with the elderly and the young, these ordinary people do not have extra money for entertainment, so once the folk performers perform well, they will praise them vigorously, and then spread the word by word of mouth until they become popular; on the contrary, if they do not have real skills to speak and sing, these people The culture is not very high, so naturally the good ones start shouting and ruining other people's business. To this day, Tianjin’s audiences also know how to listen to folk arts and love to listen to them.

Both Ma Lao and Mr. Hou performed in Tianjin. At that time, Tianjin’s Nanshi Sangui, Hongqiao and other places were a mixed bag, and they were also the main places for folk art performances. Mr. Hou probably performed in Tianjin around 1940, became an instant hit, and then came to Beijing. The Tianjin audience's love for cross talk and folk arts has greatly helped the actors' careers. However, with the gradual decline of Tianjin's status after 1949 and the rise of Beijing as a political and cultural center, the audience for cross talk and folk arts is no longer the same as in the old Republic of China. The common people also included a large number of officials who entered the city. This is actually the same as the fact that domestic film and musicians are gathering in Beijing now. There is no doubt that there will be more resources in Beijing. The two old gentlemen settled in different places, one in a declining industrial city and the other in a rising political culture. This will naturally have a great impact on the development of their respective acting careers.

Secondly, let’s talk about the style of cross talk. To put it simply, the styles of the two old gentlemen are: Mr. Ma’s cross talk is “vulgar”, while Mr. Hou’s cross talk is “elegant”. Let’s talk about Mr. Ma first. "Vulgarity" here is a compliment, that is to say, whether you are a 70-year-old man or a child of several years old, Ma Lao's cross talk will burst into laughter, because Ma Lao's cross talk incorporates too much of the Tianjin market. The characters and the audience have a strong sense of immersion. Mr. Ma's classic jokes, "To tease you," "Praise for the house," "Practice Qigong," and "Family secret recipe" all sound like things happening around ordinary people. Moreover, most of the themes are satirical, satirizing some of the weaknesses of human nature and some of the unhealthy trends in society. This reminds me of a story I had when I was in school. It was Bai Juyi who changed a poem until it was enough that the old lady on the street could understand and enjoy it. Only then could the poem be considered good. In fact, it illustrates a truth: the simpler, down-to-earth, and close to the public, the more likely it is to arouse the enthusiasm of the people. Mr. Hou's jokes are "elegant". From a technical point of view, Mr. Hou is good at singing and Liuhuo, and Ma Laochang is good at singing and singing. Mr. Hou combined his early study of Peking Opera to elevate the techniques and themes of cross talk to unattainable heights. I once read an interview with Mr. Hou, and he commented that "Hou Baolin's cross talk is clean." This is indeed the case. Crosstalk performances during the Republic of China were mostly performed in Tianqiao, Sanguang, teahouses, halls, and even brothels. People of all kinds from all walks of life were the audience. There were inevitably some jokes in the subject matter to cater to the aesthetics of low taste. Some of Mr. Hou's famous pieces such as "Eight Changes of Career" and "Empty City Strategy" are combined with the content of Peking Opera and expressed through singing. It is Mr. Hou's comprehensive understanding of cross talk that has raised cross talk to more than one level.

In fact, when it comes to the style of cross talk, actors vary from person to person. Even if the same joke text is performed by performers who have different cross talk masters and have been taught orally, the effect will be different. Personally, I don’t think the difference in style between the two old gentlemen is enough to explain who is superior in art, but it is different when it comes to publicity.

After 1949, it is well known that the new regime carried out socialist transformation, the three major movements, etc., which will not be commented here. Crosstalk is an art form that has been handed down from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. As an industry, it also has a very strong feudal guild flavor. It pays great attention to the actor’s training and genre. In fact, this is not only true for cross talk, but also for traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, etc. in China before industrialization. However, after 1949, these feudal guild systems were restricted. However, because cross talk can be used as a propaganda tool, it actually means "opening up the net" in the transformation. Many crosstalks from the 1950s to 1960s served to praise the new regime and criticize enemies and old customs. For example, Mr. Hou's "Buying a Buddhist Shrine". Of course, this is inseparable from the political climate of the year.

Going back to the original question, the need for publicity has had a great impact on the artistic lives of Mr. Ma and Mr. Hou. Most of Ma Lao's crosstalks are satirical, "Meeting Fan" satirizes bureaucracy, and "Buying a Monkey" satirizes careless sales staff. However, such satirical cross talk would often offend some people in power. As a result, he was labeled as a rightist in 1957 and sent to the suburbs. This can not but be said to have had some negative effects on Mr. Ma's artistic influence. Mr. Hou is in Beijing to perform for the Chairman, and of course his influence will be greater.

In addition, the teacher-teacher relationship and interpersonal relationships are also inseparable from the influence of the two artists. Mr. Ma’s apprentices, the ones I am personally familiar with include Ban Degui, Chang Baohua, Yin Xiaoxiao, Yu Baolin, and Chang Baofeng. Mr. Hou's apprentices, the ones I am personally familiar with are Ma Ji, Yu Shiyou, Hao Aimin, Shi Shengjie, Ding Guangquan and Huang Tieliang. (Two old gentlemen, Yin Xiaoxiao and Huang Tieliang, are still talking cross talk in Qianxiangyi Teahouse in Tianjin. They are nearly eighty years old and respectable). From the perspective of mentorship, it is obvious that Mr. Hou's apprentice has greater influence, or in other words, greater strength. One reason is that Mr. Ma is too senior and has too much resistance to accepting disciples. An example is that in the 1980s, Mr. Ma considered taking Mr. Li Wenhua as his disciple, but there were many opponents. As a result, he only accepted Mr. Ma's portrait as his disciple before Mr. Li Wenhua passed away due to illness, which was regarded as his official entry into the Chinese cross talk circle. Genealogy. It makes people sigh.

In terms of interpersonal relationships, the interpersonal relationships between Ma Lao and Ma Zhiming, the young master, are all worse. To put it bluntly, they are not people who can make ends meet and are more upright. Friends who are interested can check out Lu Yu’s exclusive interview with Mr. Ma Zhiming on the Internet. After the two anti-rightist movements, until the 1990s, they were still somewhat marginalized in the folk art troupe. In the 1990s, when Ma Zhiming appeared on CCTV's Quyuan Zatan, his colleagues from the Tianjin Quyi Troupe would praise him below. After all, these two men are not the kind of folk actors who pursue a career.